Journal articles on the topic 'Nicholas, saint, bishop of myra'

Aleksandr Kuprin is considered to be a penetrating and wise observer of human life, admirer of colourful characters which represent different social groups, a writer who is able to transgress the borderlines of literary conventions in order to reveal fundamental truthes of the human existence. The tale Two saints proves these statements to be true. Its main heroes are Nicholas, bishop of Myra and John Cassian. Following the plot of the Russian folk legend, A. Kuprin depicts their journey in common to the Heavens, skilfully approximates both ancient saints to his reader and demonstrates different ways that lead to God, whose Justice is Mercy.

The article examines the literary sources of the anonymous Panegyric on Nicholas, named Kochanov, a 14th-century Saint of Novgorod, presumably written in Novgorod in the middle of the 16th century. In numerous cases the author of the Panegyric conveys the few historical information about the life of the Saint by the borrowings from certain literary sources. Established ones are the Sermon on the memory of Basil of Caesarea by John XIII of Constantinople, the Panegyric of Nicholas of Myra attributed to Clement of Ohrid, and the anonymous Sermon on the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra of Lycia to Bari. The second part of the article privides a comparison of the Panegyric with two late lives of Nicholas Kochanov. The results of analysis confirm the conclusion that they go back to the Panegyric as their source. Moreover, the late Praise of Xenophon of Robeika, another Saint of Novgorod, the founder of the Monastery in honour of St. Nicholas, as well as the Life of Xenophon of Robeika are also based on the text of the Panegyric of Nicholas Kochanov. The appendix contains the text of the Panegyric of Nicholas Kochanov published in accordance with the manuscript of the 17th century OLDP F.48.

This article explores the cult of St Nicholas in later eleventh-century Bari, focusing on its importance to the new Norman rulers in the region as well as to their subjects. While acknowledging the influence of earlier expressions of the cult in Normandy and in Byzantine southern Italy, it argues that for numerous reasons Nicholas was, for Bari, an especially important – and appropriate – intercessor. During these years, which witnessed the translation of the saint from Myra, economic developments, church politics and the demands of the First Crusade merged to render Nicholas an ideal patron for the city.

Nicholas of Myra, a bishop who lived between the third and fourth centuries AD, is considered to be the historical character on which the legendary figure of Santa Claus is based. His bones, which were brought to Bari in the Italian region of Apulia in 1087, are known in the Christian world for a particular trait: they exude a substance, considered miraculous by some, called manna. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the debate that was conducted on natural philosophical grounds during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on the origins and nature of this liquid.

Feasts associated with relics have occurred since antiquity. They play a major role in the life of both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In contemporary practice, relic feasts often include both religious and secular events, which are especially significant in small cities that possess relics of a patron saint. This paper analyses the feasts associated with St Nicholas of Myra, St Euthemia of Chalcedon, and St Alexander Schmorell; two of these traditions go back to the medieval era, the third has more recent origins.

The paper gives grounds for the viewpoint that historians can treat as probably valid the record in the Nikon Chronicle dated 6599 Creation Era (1091 CE) reporting the arrival of Theodorus the Greek’s papal mission from Rome in Kyiv with numerous saints’ relics. Arguments are put forward in favour of Theodorus’ identification with Pope Urban’s legate Teuzo, cardinal of San Giorgio in Velabro, who could have been set off to Rome, accompanied by Prince Yaroslav Sviatopolchich, whom the former could have met at the consecration of St. Egid Basilica in Somogyvár. This mission could be juxtaposed with the translation of the relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari and its commemoration being established as a Church holiday (May 9 Julian Calendar).

Using mainly historical-comparative and historical-genetic methods, the question of the interaction of secular power in the person of the governor of the Vyatka province N. A. Troinitsky and the spiritual power in the person of Bishop of the Vyatka and Sloboda provinces Apollos (Belyaev) in terms of resolving the issue of opening a brotherhood in the Vyatka province to work with Old Believers, is raised in the article. In this work, on the basis of archival materials, the process of preparation for the opening of the Vyatka brotherhood of St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker in the city of Vyatka in 1882 is considered. Particular attention is paid to the consideration of the position of the Bishop of Vyatka and Sloboda Apollos regarding the creation of the Vyatka brotherhood. In the course of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that Bishop Apollos was a supporter of the initiative of Archpriest Stephen Kashmensky in terms of creating a brotherhood, but at the same time sought to limit the material base of the brotherhood and create a brotherhood without funding from the consistory. As a result, through the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev, the misunderstanding between the secular and spiritual authorities of the Vyatka province was eliminated, and in the fall of 1882, with the blessing of the Bishop of Vyatka and Sloboda Apollos, the Vyatka brotherhood of St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker was established.

The bilingual inscription on the reverse of the seal of Nikola, the bishop of Moravska, recently found in a medieval suburb of Svrljig, was read and its content and representation of Saint Nicholas on the obverse were analysed in the paper. This resulted in new and important facts about the Serbian Principality of Morava and its diocese which was renamed in 1020. The Byzantine conquest led to addressing the "tema" of Morava, renaming of the diocese and transferring the throne from the town of Morava to the town of Braničevo. Consequently, it was concluded in the paper that this seal had been on Bishop Nikola's letter sent to a fellow monk from Svrljig in the second half of the 10th century or at the beginning of the 11th century.

The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Ferapontov Monastery houses the life of St. Nicholas of Myra, consisting of 12 episodes, the earliest one among Russian murals. The cathedral was painted by the artel of the Muscovite painter Dionisy in 1502. The frescoes of St. Nicholas chapel (actually, a sacristy) with the central image of the Saint, located in the conch of the altar apse, have attracted much attention. Researchers did not fail to notice the expressiveness and psychological characterisation of the face of St. Nicholas in the central image. The combination of the themes of the Theotokos and St. Nicholas in the Ferapontov Cathedral was a manifestation not only of the Byzantine tradition but also of the idea of spe-cial closeness of St. Nicholas to the Mother of God characteristic for the Russian religiosity. The iconographic program of Cathedral’s sanctuary with the image of John the Baptist and the consecration of the sacristy to St. Nicholas, was unusual for the Russian tradition, but echoed mosaic decorations of side apses with a similar dedication in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin in Daphne (circa 1100). The custom of having a side church in the sacristy was widely spread in Byzantium and was also adopted in Medieval Russia. When examining the frescoes of St. Nicholas chapel, scientists did not pay sufficient attention to the principles of placement and order of scenes running in the space of the apse in two tiers, but not in a chron-ological order. In this regard, a hypothesis was formulated about the influence of the hagiog-raphic icons of St. Nicholas on the spatial composition of the paintings in St. Nicholas chapel. This paper discusses both strong and weak sides of this hypothesis with a purpose to further the study of the problem. When studying the location of the episodes of the cycle, we found that a few scenes were placed relative to each other in a similar manner. In addition, it turned out that the main principle governing the placement of the episodes was the principle of pair-ing. Within the pair, scenes and images were selected in accordance with iconographic simi-larity or a thematic relation. The axis of symmetry of the apse was of crucial importance. The compositions were distributed in the space of the sacristy with visual and semantic balance relative to this axis. The very principle of the spatial design, where thematically related scenes were placed opposite to each other endowed the entire composition with completeness and integrity, being quite different from a linear historical narrative with a more primitive visual conception.

ABSTRACTThis article concerns a fragmentary Office for Saint Blaise found in D-PREk Reihe V G1, a late fourteenth-century antiphoner from the Benedictine convent of Kloster Preetz. Despite the late date of the source, compositional similarities between this office and the Saint Nicholas office support the possibility that the former may be a lost Office attributed to Bishop Reginold of Eichstätt (r. 966–91) by the chronicler Anonymus Haserensis. I argue that Reginold may have written both the Office for Saint Blaise and the recension of the passio on which it is based for Pia of Bergen (Biletrud, Duchess of Bavaria), whom the chronicler names as Reginold's patron. This theory is supported by a consideration of the historical position and practices of Ottonian aristocratic widows, the development of saints’ cults in tenth-century Eichstätt and the text of the passio itself. These findings give new insight into the office compositions of Reginold of Eichstätt, the Ottonian veneration of Byzantine saints and female patrons’ involvement in the liturgical arts and establishment of cults in the late tenth century. These findings also provide hints to the origin of the liturgy of Kloster Preetz, whose mother house has never been identified.

No original Anglo-Saxon charter bearing an AD date earlier than 736 is extant, which seems to suit the traditional view that dating by the Era of the Incarnation, as opposed to the indiction or regnal years, was due to its popularisation by Bede's treatise De temponim ratione and his Historia ecclesiastica. ‘Consequently,’ in R. L. Poole's words, ‘not a few Anglo-Saxon charters which contain the date from the Incarnation have been condemned as spurious or corrupt.’ He then added that ‘there seems, however, to be no reason to suppose that the adoption of this era was originated by the treatise of Bede’, maintaining that it is ‘much more likely’ that it was derived from the Easter Tables of Dionysius Exiguus, arguing on the basis of the accounts of St Wilfrid's instruction at Rome and his speech at the Synod of Whitby in 664, that the saint championed the use of the Dionysian computation. Kenneth Harrison has shown how likely this is on various grounds. These include a defence of four charters bearing AD dates in the seventh century and arguably connected with Wilfrid. Harrison's case has been accepted by Nicholas Brooks, though not by Anton Scharer, and Harrison later brought two more charters into the discussion. The earliest of Harrison's charters, the foundation charter of Bath, dated AD 676 and attested by Wilfrid, and a charter concerning Ripple, Worcestershire, dated AD 680, will be discussed in detail below. Three others, all attested by Wilfrid, belong to the group of charters which Anton Scharer and Patrick Wormald associate with Eorcenwald, bishop of London, who also attests: Casdwalla of Wessex's grant of Farnham, Surrey, dated (problematically)AD 688, Eorcenwald's grant of Battersea, Surrey, dated AD 693, and his charter for Barking monastery, in which his visit to Rome is dated (again problematically) to AD 677. It is entirely possible that Wilfrid was responsible for the inclusion of the annus Domini in these charters, even if their actual drafting was done by Eorcenwald or one of his circle; the absence of the annus Domini from the other credible ‘Eorcenwald’ charters is significant. (Eorcenwald attests the Bath foundation charter, but so does Wilfrid.) Harrison's remaining charter is Æthelred of Mercia's confirmation of a grant in Thanet to the Kentish abbess Æbbe, dated AD 691 in the best manuscript.6 Significantly, this is the only one of the thirteen charters between 675 and 737 in Elmham's Historia Monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis to bear an AD date. Wilfrid does not attest — the confirmation carries no witness list — but Brooks comments that, of the four charters originally discussed by Harrison (Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, nos 42, 43, 51 and 72), only BCS 42 [the Thanet charter] has no evident connection with Wilfrid. Yet it shows Wilfrid's friend and protector, King Æthelred of Mercia, intervening in Kent by force in January 6gi (‘dum ille infirmaverat terram nostram’) at a time when the see of Canterbury was vacant. Wilfrid was by this time again running into difficulties with the Northumbrian king, and his biographer claims that he had been offered the succession to the see of Canterbury by Archbishop Theodore himself.

The studies on book culture and the functioning of various libraries have been present in academic circle for many decades. For obvious reasons the interest in books among the illustrious members of Radziwiłł magnate family as well as their scope of activity as the patrons of culture have been analyzed by historians. In the context, the history of the famous Radziwiłł library in Nesvizh can be considered as a separate research topic. This magnificent collection was confiscated after the first partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772) by order of Empress Catherine the Great. Some 15.000 volumes were transported to Saint Petersburg and offered to the Russian Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts (later Russian Academy of Sciences).Nicolas Radziwiłł the Black (1515–1565) is considered to be the founder of the Nesvizh library; however, its full development can be dated back to the time of Nicholas Christopher Radziwiłł “the Orphan” (1549–1616), who rebuilt the ducal palace and organized a library in one of the specially adopted rooms. The Nesvizh collection has been enriched by numerous donations, including that of cardinal and bishop of Vilnius George Radziwiłł (1556–1600), Sigismund Charles Radziwiłł (1591–1642), and many other members ofthe family.The presented catalogue was compiled under the request of Duke Alexander Louis Radziwiłł. This magnate, born in 1594 as a son of Nicolas Christopher Radziwiłł and Elisabeth Eufemia née Wiśniowiecka, received a most privileged education. In 1610 he began his studies in Germany then traveled throughout Germany, France and Italy. He returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the end of 1620, but in 1624 he left for Italy again, this time in the company of Prince Vladislas Vasa. In summer 1625 he again returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but soon was totally immersed in political life. Thanks to family connections he advanced his career very fast, becoming in the court marshal of Lithuania in 1635, and grand marshal of Lithuania only two years later. In December 1652 he went to Italy again and died in Bologna March 30, 1654. The manuscript catalogue of the library of Alexander Louis Radziwiłł is currently preserved in the Kórnicka Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Ms BK 1320). It contains of two parts. The first of them (f. 1–25r), compiled according to subjects, was written down in April 1651, then second one (f. 26r–46v), compiled alphabetically – in May and June this year. The catalogues are not identical. The first part, divided into classes, is more comprehensive than the second one (alphabetical). The catalogue was composed by John Hanowicz, mayor of Nesvezh. The manuscript has been marked with the ex-libris of the Radziwiłł library (Ex Bibliotheca Radivilliana Ducali Nesvisiensi) and pressmark (Loc. X, No 17). Hanowicz did not state usually the information about the place and year of publication, which makes the precise identification of the books very difficult. Therefore, one can only predict the exact number of the books (and volumes) preserved in the Nesvezh library at that time. It also happened that Hanowicz stated a title of this same book in both versions: once in the original Latin version and then in (abbreviated) Polish form. Among items included the catalogue one can also find manuscripts, maps, drawings and landed estate documents. Most the books were bound with white or red leather, less frequently with green, cherish, orange or red colored leather, and seldom with morocco leather or paper. The bibliographical descriptions provided in the footnotes should be considered only as suggestions, for only direct analysis of a given book (in visu) allows one to identify and link a book with the Radziwiłł Library. Some of the most precious books were kept in the castle treasury. The Nesvizh collections included also musical pieces, e.g. the libretto (?) of the first opera – Il ratto di Helena – performed on September 4th, 1636, in the theater of the lower ducal castle in Vilnius. The music of the famous opera was composed by an anonymous author, but the libretto was produced by Virgilio Puccitelli.The significance of the magnate families (e.g. that of the Radziwiłłs or the Sapiehas) as promoters and patrons of fine arts and literature was enormous and hard to over-estimate in the history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A further and detailed study on the content of the Nesvizh library of Duke Alexander Louis Radziwiłł in 1651 gives one the opportunity to present in full and broad contexts a truly European library collection of Baroque culture in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The casket of St Simeon the God-Receiver is the most representative work in the applied arts of the Croatian Trecento and, at the same time, one which displays great iconographic complexity. Although it was the subject of two monographs and a large number of individual articles, a whole set of questions remains open and awaits plausible interpretations. Particularly great problems are connected to the interpretation of a number of scenes which were understood differently by different scholars. At the same time, it can be noted that the discussion about the casket’s complex iconographic programme lacks a study which would address it as a unique a coherent whole in which every single scene is viewed as its irreplaceable constituent part. This article aims to demonstrate that the casket’s iconographic programme, especially that of the eight panels on its main body, was selected and arranged according to a carefully developed programme the creators of which were five noblemen of Zadar to whom Queen Elizabeth, the wife of the powerful King Louis I the Great of Hungary (1342-1382), entrusted not only the silver for the making of the casket but other important details connected to the commission such as the choice of the artist and, even more importantly, the selection of the scenes through which the casket communicated with its spectators. There is no doubt that the queen had her own demands with regard to what was depicted as can be seen in the opulent dedicatory inscription which records that she was the patron of the casket but also in the donation scene where she appears together with her daughters. It can also be said with certainty that she gave instructions for the somewhat unusual panel which depicts her standing by the catafalque of her father, Ban Stephen of Bosnia (+1354) who is being sent off to the next world by St Simeon the Righteous. It should mentioned that Ban Stephen was considered a heretic – a Bogomil – which means that being a Catholic queen, his daughter attempted to rectify the past with this panel. All these scenes are at the back of the casket. The queen undoubtedly also had a say in the selection of scenes which were depicted on the front. Those relate to the life of St Simeon which, considering that we know of only one event in his life, was done in a very skilful way: the central panel shows the saint receiving the Christ Child in the scene of the Presentation in the Temple while the panels to its left and right depict the translation of the saint’s relics which have not been identified as such in the scholarly literature. The translation consists of three scenes which are always present in the cases of translation: the finding of the body (inventio corporis), the transport of the body to a new place (translatio corporis) and, finally, the placing of the body to a new site where it would remain in the future (colocatio corporis). These three scenes were interpreted by the noblemen of Zadar in an idiosyncratic way in order to affirm the medieval Zadar and its nobility on the casket itself. The scene of the inventio corporis depicts the rectors of Zadar intervening at the last moment before a group of monks from the outskirts of town get hold of the body and place it in their monastery. In the scene of the colocatio corporis, the body of St Simeon is being carried into the Church of St Mary Major in the presence of King Louis and the grateful citizens who are led by the Bishop Nicholas Matafar. This scene depicts the return of the saint’s body from Venice where, according to the author of this article, it had been taken during the local uprising against the Venetian rule (1346-1358). At the same time, the visual message of the two scenes which flank the central one was to show that the exclusive ownership of the relics belonged to the citizens of Zadar. The conflict with the monks which erupted on a local level is being resolved by the local authorities, that is, the rectors of Zadar. When the problem becomes ‘bilateral’, that is, when it involves Venice, the dispute is settled (to the benefit of the citizens of Zadar) by their sovereign, the king of Hungary and Croatia.The visual interpretation of the translation depicted on the casket relies greatly on the scenes from the cycle of the translation of the body of St Mark from the façade of St Mark’s basilica at Venice (the discovery and exhumation of the body, the transport of the body on a ship, the placing of the body in a new shrine). The author of the article, therefore, frequently compares the scenes on the Zadar casket to those from Venice.

I was born in 1980. I grew up with Santa. He delivered gifts to our home until the day that I stopped believing and realised that my parents were behind the whole thing. They were, of course, commissioned by the jolly man himself, to procure, wrap, and hide the Christmas gifts until the Baby Jesus popped open the bubbly (or fizzy). The origins of Santa Claus are said to point to Saint Nicholas of Myra, an early Christian bishop during the time of the Roman Empire (Seal, 2006; Wheeler, 2010).

Bailey, Linda. When Santa Was a Baby, illustrated by Geneviève Godbout. Tundra Books, 2015.Linda Bailey draws heavily on Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas in creating this portrait of the child Santa Claus. As an infant, his dimples are “merry;” his nose, “Like a cherry.” His baby voice booms “Ho! Ho! Ho!” and his preferred color is red. As a young child, he hitches eight baby hamsters to a matchbox sled and begins to name his chargers: “ Dasher…Dancer…Comet…Vixen.” By the time he develops an interest in chimneys, and sullies his clothing with ashes and soot, we are beginning to feel that the literary allusions are a bit forced. To be fair, young readers and listeners who have heard the recitation of Moore’s classic not nearly so often as has this reviewer might find the allusions quite provocative and amusing.Bailey does attempt to convey the spirit of St. Nicholas, the legendary fourth-century Bishop of Myra, with whom, we believe, many stories of generous and anonymous gift giving began. We know that over the course of the centuries, the idea of a gift-giving saint gave rise to such figures as “Sinterklaas” in the Netherlands, “Father Christmas” in the British Isles, and “Santa Claus” in North America. Bailey’s assertion that the young Santa was a child who gave his presents away is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the original saint. Her suggestion, however, that he preferred frigid surroundings, hence, settled at the North Pole, does not square so easily with what we know of a bishop who lived on a Mediterranean shore where the legends of his charitable acts arose. None-the-less, if Moore could use artistic license in his vision of Santa Claus, so can Bailey.The illustrations of Geneviève Godbout are a lively accompaniment to this tale. Godbout’s experience as a film animator are evident in her ability to produce facial expressions with strong, simple lines, good color contrast between background and foreground figures, and excellent focal points even in fairly detailed illustrations. These features make her work a good choice for use in classroom or library story hours.In sum, the storyline of When Santa Was a Baby is very dependent upon The Night Before Christmas and would succeed best with (and seem most humorous to) children who are familiar with that classic verse. Fortunately, the many reprintings, picture book interpretations and performances of Moore’s work are widely available. Teachers, parents and librarians should have no trouble laying the groundwork for an appreciation of Bailey’s picture book.Reviewer: Leslie AitkenRecommended: 3 out of 4 starsLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship included selection of children’s literature for school, public, special and academic libraries.

Abstract Background and Aims Pope Gregory I (Magnus)―born c.540 AD, Pope 580-604 AD―in a letter to Bishop Venanzio ofLuni (later venerated as a saint) wrote “I have been confined to bed for the last eleven months, because of pain and malaise and suffer because of goutand my life has been turned into a penitence for my sins thus I am waiting death as a physician who will give me health”. He was the first Pope to suffer of gout and opens a list including in the years 20 pontiffs that includes Sisinnius, (b.650, pope 21 day in 708); Boniface VI (b. 806, Pope 15 days in 886), Honorius IV (b.1210, Pope 1285-1287); Boniface VIII (b. 1230, Pope 1294-1303); Clement VI (b.1281,Pope 1342-1352), Nicholas V (b.1387, Pope 1447-1455); Pius II( b. 1405, Pope 1458-1464); Sixtus IV (b. 1414, Pope 1471-1474); Pius III (b.1440, Pope 26 days in 1503); Pius IV (b. 1499, Pope 1559-1565); Julius II (b. 1443, Pope 1503-1516); Julius III (b.1481, Pope 1550-1555); Clement VIII (b. 1536, Pope 1592- 1605); Clement X (b.1581, Pope 1670-1676); Innocent XI (b.1681, Pope 1676-1689); Innocent XII (b.1649, Pope 1676-2692); Innocent XIII (b.1655, Pope 1721-1724); Benedict XIV (b. 1765, Pope 1740-1758), and Pius VIII (b.1761, Pope 1829-1830). Their mean age at death was 69.4 years, the youngest being Sisinnius (59 years), the oldest being Clement X (96 years). Results Some popes were strong eaters like Boniface VIII. He was chronically affected by gout and renal stone disease and by the fear for death, and the search for therapies capable to prolong life. Cosmacini says “podagroso e gottoso”… the Pope is affected by arthritis and renal disease due to overalimentation very rich (straricca) in meat”. He enrolled various archiaters among them Taddeo Alderotti (1223-1295), Pietro da Abano (1257-1315), Anselmo da Bergamo (artisphysicae professor), Simone of Genova (author of Clavissanationis), Accursino from Pistoia, Manzia from Fabriano, Gugliemo da Brescia, Angelo da Camerino and Campano da Novara (Magister Campanus), the naturalist he too affected by renal stone disease. Julius III too was a strong eater (he loved fatty foods seasoned with garlic) as was Pius IV, the hard worker who everyday used to take a nap after lunch and a long walk later in the day. By contrast Nicholas V (his Pontiff saw in 1453 the Fall of Costantinople and the end of the Hundred Years War) was a sober eater and drinker as were Pius II who made use of simple common foods, little wine and slept up to 5-6 hours. Probably Nicholas V died uremic since his pale natural color switched into yellowish-brown (itaque ex naturali et subcandido in croceumsubcinericiumque color suusconversusest). Pius III “was a sober eater and drinker and used to dine every two days. Some of the above popes were patrons of universities (Boniface VIII, Nicholas V, Pius II), some were patrons of arts and science (Nicholas V, Sixtus IV). Boniface VIII is remembered for the Bulla detestandeferitatis (against dismemberment and evisceration of cadavers), issued on September 27, 1299). For thatBulla, during the subsequent centuries he was wrongly accused even by Herman Boerhaave and Albrecht von Haller to have retarded the advancement of medicine by impeding anatomical dissections. By contrast Sixtus IV is remembered not only for modernizing Rome and embelling it, but for the 1482 Breve to the University of Tubingen allowing―for teaching purposes ―dissection of dead bodies of people sentenced to death.